A Fond Farewell to 2017

There's a lot to say good riddance to in 2017, but for me, I'm saying farewell to what was easily one of the best years of my life. It was the year I practiced wellness and vulnerability while also living abroad and working remotely. It was the year I let go of things that weighed me down, the year I faced some of my biggest fears.

The second half of 2017 felt like one big bootcamp for my heart. In a physical sense, I started to run and test my endurance. Professionally, I felt like my naivete was stripped away, layer by layer. The last few months amounted to a period of deep introspection where logic and love were at constant odds. The last month in particular was full of tremendous change, something I can't wait to write more about.

We can't control the beliefs of our elected officials, devastating hurricanes, or the number of horrific #metoo stories that appear in our news headlines or social media feeds. However, I learned this year that I can cope with change and chaos through the power of choice – how I live my life, the people I spend time with, the impact I make through my work and all of the tiny decisions that add up in between.

In 2017, these three words led the way: cultivate, create, and explore.

I cultivated a lot of habits and rituals. I practiced 100+ hours of yoga, ran 100+ miles, slept an average of 7 hours/night, read more long-form content (18 books, lots of NYTimes, New Yorker, LongReads, etc.), embraced radical candor, and adopted some productivity workflows that helped me do more, faster.

I created more than previous years. I published 30 blog posts on this site (a 100% improvement YoY), captured more than 100GB of photos, cooked at least once almost every week, and in general, approached my work with a lot more fervor and decisiveness. I'd like to keep with this trend and maybe push myself to compose or code in 2018.

I explored with voracity and wonder. I visited 10 countries (Mexico, Brazil, UK, Netherlands, France, Montenegro, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Canada), went to Burning Man, took international dance classes (samba, bhangra, belly dancing, etc.), and went church hopping to better understand my relationship with religion. Perhaps what was more interesting than my travel and cultural escapades was the inner exploration I did. Through meditation, dating, executive coaching, and lots of reading, I'm discovering more and more about myself, my values, and how they show up both negatively and positively in my life.

This is the first time I'm going into a year without an ache or a void. There's usually a yearning I feel to get to a destination, some place real or not; to do more, see more, be more, experience more.

The start of 2018 feels so different. I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be at exactly the right time. There's still so much to do and learn and see, but it all feels like one giant surplus. If 2017 was my year of plenitude, 2018 will be my year of gratitude. More on this to come.